Precipitating antibodies to an insect pathogenic RNA virus of Darna trima from East Malaysia have been found in a small percentage of human sera from several different groups of persons in West Malaysia and the United Kingdom. No associated illness was identified. The results suggest that an antigenically related virus or viruses are present in the environment that may be associated with symptomless or inapparent infections in man.
Levels of immunoglobulins G, A, M and E as well as complement components C3c and C4 have been determined in populations in various endemic areas in Peninsular Malaysia and also in filariasis patients. High immunoglobulin levels were seen. In the microfilarial-negative group IgG was 2009 mg% while IgE was 3967 I.U./ml. In the filariasis group, Wuchereria bancrofti patients had significantly higher levels of IgG, IgM and IgE, namely, 3314 mg%, 804 mg% and 18400 I.U./ml respectively. The significance of these levels is discussed.
There has been a rapid increase in the past five years in the numbers of hospitalized drug dependents. While the studied population was clearly unrepresentative of the country-wide drug using population, it illustrates how the problem is neither limited to one particular stratum of society, nor to the few "traditional" drugs. Indeed, an increasingly youthful group of individuals drawn from all backgrounds is not only becoming dependent upon opiates, but is also using a range of other drugs, all of which are available on the market at relatively low cost. The market prices of drugs have an effect on the pattern of drug use; and many individuals move directly from tobacco to heroin smoking. Drug abuse continues to be a considerable public and governmental concern, and enforcement and treatment programmes are rapidly expanding in attempts to resolve this problem.
Cancer of the cervix is exceedingly uncommon in the Malaysian Orang Asli (aborigine), despite the presence of factors associated with an increased risk of developing this malignancy. In only three patients was the diagnosis of carcinoma of the cervix established, out of a total of nearly 18,000 female inpatients, admitted to the Gombak Orang Asli Hospital over a 13-year period. Over this same period, 81 female patients were diagnosed as having cancer. Interviews with female Orang Asli patients show the presence of alleged risk factors for cervical cancer, including early age of first intercourse, multiparity and non-circumcision of husbands. The low incidence of cancer of the cervix in this aborigine community may be due to the strict moral code of the Orang Asli, limiting extramarital sexual activity and associated venereal infection.
During a routine medical examination of 5280 government employees (2736 males, 2544 females; age range 17 to 66 years; 3386 Chinese, 1252 Malays, 508 Indians and 134 other ethnic groups) diabetes was found in 31 (0.59%). The prevalence was higher in males (0.95%) than in females (0.20%). The highest prevalence was in the age-group 50 to 59 years (5.4%); at ages 30 to 66 years, the overall prevalence was 2.18%. The prevalence of diabetes is higher in Indians (2.76%) than in Chinese (0.30%) and Malays (0.48%); the difference is statistically significant, as it also is in the age-group 30 to 66 years (Indians 6.36%, Malays 1.39%, Chinese 0.9%). Of the 31 cases, only four were previously known and only nine were overwieght. The possible reasons for the higher prevalence of diabetes in Indians are discussed.